24. Radiation belts.

Ionosphere.
 Forming the Magnetopause
• The solar wind is supersonic and passes through a bow shock where the
direction of flow is changed so that most of the solar wind plasma is deflected
to either side of the magnetopause.
• The zone of shocked solar wind plasma is the magnetosheath.
• The dynamic pressure is much larger
than the thermal pressure or magnetic
pressure in the solar wind.
• Within the magnetosphere the magnetic
pressure of the Earth’s internal field
dominates.
• To a good approximation the boundary
(the magnetopause) between the region
RS
dominated by the solar wind and the
region dominated by the Earth (the
magnetosphere) can be found by
balancing the solar wind dynamic
pressure with the magnetic pressure of
the Earth.
The Magnetotail – Noon Midnight View
 Interaction between the IMF
and magnetosphere.
Bz southward (negative)
The IMF is a vector quantity with three
directional components, two of which ( Bx
and B y ) are oriented parallel to the ecliptic.
The third component, Bz , is perpendicular to
the ecliptic and is created by waves and other
disturbances in the solar wind.
Bz northward (positive)
When the IMF and geomagnetic field lines are
oriented opposite or "antiparallel" to each
other, they can "merge" or "reconnect,"
resulting in the transfer of energy, mass, and
momentum from the solar wind flow to
magnetosphere.

The strongest coupling –with the most

dramatic magnetospheric effects– occurs
when the Bz component is oriented
southward.
 Magnetospheric Convection

•The newly reconnected flux tube

will move be dragged tailward by
the solar wind.
• At a tail reconnection site the
lobe field lines reconnect at
position to form new closed field
lines.
•The new closed field lines are
stressed and moves earthward.
•The flow circuit is finally closed
when the newly closed field lines
flow magnetosphere dayside.
 The Events in the Magnetosphere During a
Substorm – Growth Phase
• A southward turning of the IMF
initiates or increases dayside
reconnection.
– Magnetic flux from the Earth
connects to the IMF and is
transported over the polar caps into
the lobes.
– The return flow in the
magnetosphere is unable to return
flux to the dayside as fast as it is
removed. The dayside magnetopause
is eroded.

• The magnetic field in the tail lobes

increases storing energy for later
release.

• The plasma sheet thins.

 Van Allen Radiation Belts
The Earth has two regions of trapped fast
particles. The inner radiation belt
discovered by Van Allen is relatively
compact, extending perhaps one Earth
radius. It consists of very energetic
protons, a by-product of collisions by
cosmic ray ions with atoms of the
atmosphere.
Further out is the large region of the
ring current, containing ions and electrons
of much lower energy (the most energetic
among them also known as the "outer
radiation belt"). Unlike the inner belt, this
population fluctuates widely, rising when
magnetic storms inject fresh particles from
the tail of the magnetosphere, then
gradually falling off again. The ring
current energy is mainly carried by the
ions, most of which are protons.
 Motion of charged particles in the radiation belts
• Electron motion in a steady-state dipole-like magnetic
field can be exactly described by three periodic motions

– gyration around the

magnetic field
– bounce along the magnetic
field mirror points
– azimuthal gradient-curvature
drift around the magnetosphere.

• Each has an associated Hamiltonian invariant which is

approximately conserved under adiabatic changes to
the magnetic field.
• Because the magnetic field increases closer to the Earth
the Larmor radius decreases and the rotational velocity
increases. When the rotational velocity reaches the
value of the total velocity the particles cannot move
further down and are reflected.
2013 GEM Workshop: IMS Tutorial
Magnetic moment of particle in magnetic field
• Consider motion of a particle
with charge e in an axisymmetric
magnetic field.
• Calculate the magnetic moment
of a particle moving on a circular orbit :
1
µ = I ⋅ A, where A is the orbit area, I is the electric current
c
 Magnetic mirror
v⊥ v|| E = µ B, v
= 0 - mirror reflection point
If E > µ max( B ) then
particle escapes – “loss
cone” condition
 Animation of particle motion in the radiation belts

Thanks
18 June 2013 to G. Stevens, S. Ukhorskiy, and APLIMS
2013 GEM Workshop: team for movie
Tutorial
 Dynamic Belts (Baker et al., 2013)

Courtesy G.
Stevens,
and S.
Ukhorisky
18 June 2013 2013 GEM Workshop: IMS Tutorial
Discovery of new radiation belt by
Van Allen Probes (2013)
 The Earth’s Atmosphere
• The Earth’s upper atmosphere is
important for ground-based and satellite
radio communication and navigation.
• Its density determines the lifetime of
satellites in low-Earth orbit.
• It is important for auroras and
magnetospheric convection.
• The upper atmosphere is called the
thermosphere. It is composed mostly of
neutral atoms and molecules.
• Within the thermosphere the amount of
ionized gas becomes important and forms
a region called the ionosphere.
• These two co-located regions are coupled
through particle collisions (neutral – ion).
 The Structure of the Atmosphere

• Troposphere (water vapor,

convection due to contact
with surface, expansion of
air)
• Stratosphere (ozone layer)
• Mesosphere (radiative
cooling)
• Thermosphere (X-ray,
particle energy input heats
this layer)
• Ionosphere (region with
appreciable ionized
component - balance of
production and loss)
 Layers of Earth's upper atmosphere.

Credit: John
Emmert/NRL.

The thermosphere ranges in altitude from 90 km to 600+ km. The thermosphere

intercepts extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons from the Sun before they can reach
the ground. When solar activity is high, solar EUV warms the thermosphere,
causing it to expand. (This heating can raise temperatures as high as 1400 K—hence
the name thermosphere.) When solar activity is low, the opposite happens.
 A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Upper Atmosphere in
2008-2009
• In 2008 -2009, the Sun plunged into a century-
class solar minimum. Sunspots were scarce, solar
flares almost non-existent, and solar EUV
radiation was very low.
• John Emmert used a clever technique: Because
satellites feel aerodynamic drag when they move
through the thermosphere, it is possible to
monitor conditions there by watching satellites
orbital decay. He analyzed the decay of more
than 5000 satellites ranging in altitude between
200 and 600 km during1967-2010.
• The thermospheric collapse was bigger than the
Sun alone could explain.
• One possible explanation is carbon dioxide
(CO2). When carbon dioxide gets into the
thermosphere, it acts as a coolant, shedding heat
via infrared radiation. It is widely-known that
CO2 levels have been increasing in Earth's
The density of the thermosphere (at a height of 400 km) during the past four
atmosphere. Extra CO2 in the thermosphere could solar cycles. Frames (a) and (c) are density; frame (b) is the Sun's radio
intensity at a wavelength of 10.7 cm, a key indicator of solar activity. In
have magnified the cooling action of solar 2008 and 2009, the density of the thermosphere was 28% lower than
minimum. expectations set by previous solar minima. Emmert et al. (2010), Geophys.
Res. Lett., 37, L12102.
 The Ionosphere
• Ions exist everywhere in the atmosphere
but they are most important in the
thermosphere.
• We call that ionized part of the
thermosphere the ionosphere.
• The ions come from neutral atoms or
molecules that have been ionized either
by high energy photons (UV or X-rays-
short wave lengths) from the Sun or
energetic particles from the
magnetosphere that precipitate into the
atmosphere and collide with the
surrounding gas.
• The number of ions in the thermosphere
peaks at about 300 km height – the region
about this peak is the ionosphere.
 The Discovery of the Ionosphere
• Guglielmo Marconi’s
demonstration of long distance
radio communication in 1901
started studies of the ionosphere.
• Arthur Kennelly and Oliver
Heaviside independently in 1902
postulated an ionized atmosphere
to account for radio transmissions.
(Kennelly-Heavyside layer is now
called the E-layer).
• Larmor (1924) developed a theory
of reflection of radio waves from • The ionosphere is important for radio wave
an ionized region. (AM only) propagation.
• Breit and Tuve in 1926 developed • Ionosphere is composed of the D, E, and F
layers.
a method for probing the • The D layer is good at absorbing AM radio
ionosphere by measuring the waves. D layer disappears at night. The E and
round-trip for reflected radio F layers bounce the waves back to the Earth.
waves. • This explains why radio stations adjust their
power output at sunset and sunrise.
 The Ionosphere During the Day and at Night

• The main ionization

mechanism is photoionization
therefore the highest densities
in the ionosphere are on the
sunlit side of the Earth.
• The ionosphere does not go
away at night – the
recombination time (time for
an electron and ion to come
back together) is comparable to
the rotation period of the Earth.
• In the auroral zone
precipitating particle (particles
whose mirror altitude is in the
atmosphere) also ionize
particles.
• The D layer is the innermost layer, 60 - 90 km
above the surface. Ionization here is due to Lyman-
alpha hydrogen radiation at a wavelength of
121.5 nm ionizing nitric oxide (NO). In addition,
high solar activity can generate hard X-rays
(wavelength < 1 nm) that ionize N2 and O2.
• The E layer is the middle layer, 90 -150 km above
the surface. Ionization is due to soft X-ray (1–10
nm) and far ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation
ionization of molecular oxygen (O₂).
• The F layer is the top layer, 150 km to >500 km.
EUV (10–100 nm) solar radiation ionizes atomic
oxygen. Radio waves are mostly reflected from the
F layer.
 The Extent of the Ionosphere
• There are ions and electrons at
all altitudes in the atmosphere.

• Below about 60km the charged

particles do not play an
important part in determining
the chemical or physical
properties of the atmosphere.

• Identification of ionospheric
layers is related to inflection
points in the vertical density
profile.
 Diurnal and Solar Cycle Variations
• In general densities are
larger during solar
maximum than during
solar minimum.

• The D and F1 regions

disappear at night.

• The E and F2 regions

become much weaker.

• The topside ionosphere is

basically an extension of
the magnetosphere.
 Composition of the Dayside Ionosphere Under
Solar Minimum Conditions

• At low altitudes the major

ions are O2+ and NO+

• Near the F2 peak it changes to

O+

• The topside ionosphere is H+

dominant.
++
 How is the Ionosphere Created?
• For practical purposes the ionosphere can be thought of as
quasi-neutral (the net charge is practically zero in each
volume element with enough particles).
• The ionosphere is formed by ionization of the three main
atmospheric constituents N2, O2, and O.
– The primary ionization mechanism is photoionization by extreme
ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray radiation.
– In some areas ionization by particle precipitation is also important.
– The ionization process is followed by a series of chemical
reactions which produce other ions.
– Recombination removes free charges and transforms the ions to
neutral particles.
Neutral Density Exceeds the Ion Density
Below About 500 km.
 A Simple Model of the Ionosphere (where the “bumps” in the
density profile come from)
• The atmospheric density decreases with height. If we let z be
the height then our equation for the atmospheric density is
where n( z ) = n0 exp(− z H ) H = kT mg
• The ionosphere is formed by ionization of atmospheric
constituents mostly by electromagnetic radiation (UV
radiation).
• The ionizing radiation comes from the Sun. If Φν is the
photon flux per unit frequency then the change in flux due to
absorption by the neutral gas in a distance ds is
dΦν = −nσ ν Φ v ds
where σν is the photo absorption
cross section (cm2) and
n is the neutral density.
 The Decrease in Photons
• The photon flux also has an
exponential solution. After
correcting for the angle of incidence
of the sunlight, the solution becomes
Φν ( z ) = Φν ∞ exp(−τν )

where τν is called the optical

depth. ∞
τν = sec χ ∑ ∫ σ ν t n( z ' )dz '
t z
The summation allows us to
include different atmospheric
constituents.
 Formation of Ionospheric Layers
• The number of photons is largest at the
top of the ionosphere and decreases
Forming a Chapman Layer
with decreasing altitude.
• The number of neutrals is largest at the
bottom of the atmosphere and decreases
with increasing altitude!
• Combining the two profiles gives the
profile of a Chapman Layer
• The Chapman layer is the idealized
height distribution of ionization as a
function of height produced solely by
absorption of solar radiation.
• The E and F1 regions are essentially
Chapman layers
• Additional production, transport and
loss processes are necessary to Kallenrode, 1998
understand the D and F2 regions.
 Ionospheric Conductivity
• The ionospheric conducts
electricity.
• The conductivity of the
ionosphere viewed from dusk.
• The conductivity is highest at
noon and decreases toward night.
This is an effect of UV ionization.
• At night there is a second form of
ionization (electron impact
ionization from precipitating
electrons.
 Ionospheric Conductance on the Night Side

• The enhanced conductivity on the

night side is confined to the auroral
oval (Y=0 is midnight).
• The white lines show the ionospheric
convection (flow) pattern. Magnetic
flux tubes from the magnetosphere
move through the ionosphere. This
shows the two cell pattern that occurs
for southward IMF.
• Precipitation from the magnetosphere
enhances conductivity especially
during magnetic substorms and storms.
 Field Aligned Currents

• Field aligned currents from R1

the numerical simulation. R1
• Cold colors indicate currents
away from the Earth and hot
colors indicate currents
toward the earth.
• The high latitude currents
R2
are caused by the vorticity of
polar convection cells.

R2
 Field Aligned Currents and Aurora

• By definition
currents flow in
the direction that
protons move.

•Upward field
aligned currents
(electrons going
down toward the
Earth) create
auroral emissions.
 What are Aurorae?
• The aurora is mainly caused by
excitation due to precipitating
electrons and ions. Auroras typically
are found at high geomagnetic
latitudes where magnetospheric and
solar wind electrons can readily access
the upper atmosphere.

• Typically 1011Js-1 (W) is required to

maintain auroral emissions – this is
well above the generating capacity of
New Jersey (2x1010 W).
Aurora australis (11 September
2005) as captured by NASA's
IMAGE satellite, digitally
overlaid onto the Earth
composite image.
 Auroral Light
• Auroral emissions are primarily due to a
two-step process in which precipitating
energetic auroral particles collide with the
atoms and molecules of the Earth’s upper
atmosphere.
• Part of the particles kinetic energy is
converted into energy stored in the
chemically excited states of atmospheric
species.
• The excited states relax giving off Aurora images captured at
photons. midnight on April 10, 2015,
• The brightest visible feature of the aurora , in Delta Junction, Alaska.
the green line at 557.7nm is due to the The aurora were likely
transition of an electron from 1S excited connected to a minor to
moderate geomagnetic
state to the 1D state of atomic oxygen. storm that began late on
• Another commonly observed line April 9, 2015. The storm
particularly in the polar cusp and cap is the was triggered by a coronal
red line at 639 nm. This occurs as the 1D mass ejection.
state relaxes to the ground state (3P2).
 The Colors of the Aurora
• The 630nm emission forms the • Magenta predominates
diffuse background radiation in below 100 km and is a
which the discrete arcs are combination of N2 and
embedded. O+2 emissions near 600nm
• “Blood-red” auroras are and N+2 violet emissions.
produced by low-energy
electrons (<<1 keV) they are
found at high altitudes
(>200km)

• “Red lower borders” indicate

the presence of energetic
particles (>10keV).
• Most auroras are yellow-green
but sometimes appear gray
(because our eyes are
insufficiently sensitive)
 The Auroral Oval

• The aurora are found in rings

about the north and south
poles.
• These are magnetically
connected to the equatorial
magnetosphere.
• The sketches on the right are
based on observations and
show the regions with aurora
for quiet and disturbed times.
Aurora from ISS
 Auroras on Saturn.
Hubble Space Telescope, orbiting around Earth, was able
to observe the northern auroras in ultraviolet wavelengths,
and Cassini spacecraft, orbiting around Saturn, got
complementary close-up views in infrared, visible-light
and ultraviolet wavelengths.
The Structure of Heliosphere
Anti-correlation between the galactic cosmic ray flux and
solar activity – Forbush effect
Forbush effect (1937) - a
decrease in the intensity of
cosmic rays as observed on
Earth, attributed to
magnetic effects produced
by solar flares and CMEs.
Forbush observed that the
intensity of cosmic rays
reaching Earth was
inversely correlated with
the 11-year solar cycle of
sunspot activity, in that
there are more cosmic rays
at the minimum of the
cycle and fewer cosmic
rays at the maximum. At
maximum solar activity,
stronger magnetic fields are
carried out into
interplanetary space by the
solar wind, and these fields
block the cosmic rays.
Real-time observations of the cosmic ray flux by measuring
neutron produced by the high-energy particles in the atmosphere.
Living with a Star Program